How to Make a Fall Bucket List You’ll Actually Enjoy

Every fall, the lists start appearing.

Fifty things to do this fall. Twenty-five fall traditions you have to try. The ultimate fall bucket list. Pumpkin patches. Apple orchards. Fall recipes. Crafts. Matching pajamas. Apparently, we have approximately eight weeks to accomplish all of it.

I love fall. I love making memories. I love a good seasonal activity.

But I do not need enjoying fall to become another assignment.

This year, instead of making a giant list of everything we’re supposedly supposed to squeeze in before the Christmas decorations come out, I’m approaching my fall bucket list differently. I chose six things I genuinely want to make time for this season.

And instead of giving you my list and telling you to copy it, I created six prompts to help you figure out what belongs on yours.

(If your fall calendar already feels a little out of control, start with my Fall Reset and then come back to your bucket list.)

A Different Kind of Fall Bucket List

The point of a fall bucket list should be to help you enjoy the season, not give you another list of things to accomplish.

So before I started adding activities, I thought about what I actually wanted from this fall.

What would I be disappointed if we didn’t do? Is there something new I’ve been wanting to try? Who do I want to spend time with? What sounds good when we’re home with nowhere to be?

And, importantly, what do I want to do that isn’t centered around everybody else?

Those questions became six categories.

Want to make your own?

Use my free printable Fall Bucket List with six prompts to choose the traditions, experiences and people you actually want to make room for this season.

1. Something Nostalgic

Start with something that already feels like fall to you.

Maybe it’s apple picking, a particular festival, decorating the house, making a recipe your family loves, watching the same movie every October, or going somewhere you’ve visited for years.

This isn’t about inventing another tradition because Pinterest told you your family needs one. Think about the things you already associate with this season and would genuinely miss if you skipped them.

And if everybody groans when you announce the “beloved family tradition,” we may need to discuss whether it’s actually beloved. I’m just saying.

2. Something New

Now choose one new thing.

Not seventeen.

Maybe there’s a fall festival you’ve never attended, a restaurant you’ve been wanting to try, a day trip, a new hobby, a recipe or even something that has absolutely nothing to do with pumpkins.

Part of enjoying a season is leaving room for experiences you haven’t had yet.

3. Something With Your People

Fall gets busy quickly.

School starts. Sports and activities kick into high gear. Work is still working. Then Halloween arrives, followed approximately 13 minutes later by Thanksgiving.

It’s very easy to assume quality time will happen somewhere in there.

Instead, think about who you want to spend time with this fall and choose something you’d enjoy doing together. The activity doesn’t have to be elaborate. The people are the point.

4. Something Cozy at Home

You do not have to leave the house every weekend to make fall memorable.

Some of the best seasonal moments can happen right at home: a movie night, dinner outside when the weather finally cools down, baking something together, inviting friends over, or doing absolutely nothing particularly impressive.

Your house also doesn’t have to look like a catalog before you’re allowed to enjoy it.

5. Something With Your Partner

This category gets its own spot on my list intentionally.

Busy seasons can very quickly turn a marriage into two people coordinating calendars, children, practices, groceries and whose turn it was to move something from the washer to the dryer.

So put something on the calendar that you would genuinely enjoy doing together.

It doesn’t have to be an elaborate date night. It just needs to remind you that you actually like each other.

6. Something Just for You

Finally, choose something for yourself.

Not something for your children that you’ll enjoy watching them enjoy.

Not something your entire family wants to do that you’re generously counting as self-care.

You.

What have you been wanting to do? What sounds fun? What would make you happy that doesn’t need to accomplish anything for anybody?

That deserves a place on the calendar too.

Watch Me Create My Fall Bucket List

In the video, I’m sharing what actually made my six categories this year and why I chose each one.

And no, completing all six isn’t the assignment.

Your Fall Bucket List Doesn’t Need to Become Another To-Do List

That’s really the point.

I want my fall bucket list to help me notice what I actually want to make room for before the season disappears. I don’t want it to become six additional obligations.

So make your list. Put the things that require planning on the calendar. Leave room for spontaneous things too.

And if November arrives and you only did four?

We’re trying to enjoy our lives here. Not earn an A in autumn.

Create Your Own Fall Bucket List

Download my free printable and use the six prompts to create your own Fall Bucket List.